International Encyclopedia of Public Policy and Administration - Vol. 2

who have engaged in similar activity have also been terminated. Otherwise, the action is clearly discriminatory.

The most difficult cases to prosecute are those involving incompetence or poor performance. These are relatively subjective concepts for which adequate documentation may be lacking (and inherently problematic to
generate). Because poor performance is a difficult charge to
prove (at least to the satisfaction of many appellate bodies), public managers are often reluctant to dismiss workers
who are incompetent. Studies by the U.S. General Accounting Office, for example, have shown that public
managers use a variety of informal strategies to deal with
poor performers. If they are not simply ignored, many are
assigned to units that are known dumping grounds for incompetents (the GAO refers to these agencies as "turkey
farms"). Problems of this type demonstrate why public
agencies today are so anxious to develop objective performance standards for all positions.

Before proceeding with a dismissal, the manager must
be satisfied that the offending behavior is well-documented,
that the employee is not being treated in a discriminatory
manner, and that the relevant procedures are being followed. Once these questions have been answered, a few simple guidelines are usually recommended. First, the dismissal
interview should be conducted in private both to preserve
the employee's dignity and to avoid charges of "outrageous
termination." In a few celebrated cases, workers who were
fired in public settings successfully pressed claims that their
constitutional right to privacy had been violated. Second,
managers are strongly encouraged to have one witness present during the discussion. Should a dispute arise about the
content of the dismissal interview, the witness provides a reliability check. Finally, the agency should provide a consistent reason for the dismissal in all subsequent actions. That
is, it should not tell the employee one thing, the coworkers
another, and the unemployment compensation office
something else. A certain level of discretion is also essential,
since spreading uncomplimentary information about a former employee might prompt a defamation lawsuit.

In summary, dismissal is probably the most unpleasant task that any manager will face in a career. It is frought
with both personal and professional peril. In addition to
the interpersonal tension that inevitably arises, any dismissal can trigger a legal challenge that requires the manager to defend his or her actions before both internal and
external review bodies. This problem is especially prevalent
in the public sector, where dismissals have been exceedingly rare due to the rigidities of the public personnel system. But, as pressures build for a more efficient and responsive public service, so too will demands for more effective
dismissal procedures. Whether or not public managers will
be willing to use the procedures, once they have been simplified, remains to be seen.

STEVEN W. HAYS

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Belker, Loren. B., 1993. The First-Time Manager. New York: AMACOM.

Bureau of National Affairs, 1991. Employee Termination by Employment Sector. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of National
Affairs.

Van Paul Riper, 1958. History of the United States Civil Service. Evanston, IL: Row, Peterson.

DIVISION OF LABOR."The separation of labor
into its various distinct processes and their apportionment
among different individuals, groups, or machines for the
purpose of increasing productive efficiency" ( Webster Third International Dictionary). This concept undergirds all
societal activities conducted by complex organizations,
such as industries, schools, and governmental agencies. Division of labor is pervasive in all human activities without
regard to culture, ethnicity, or geographic location. It is
probable that what we know as division of labor-- the focusing of skills development to accomplish a single or related tasks in cooperation with other participants -- occurred intuitively beginning with the formation of a family
unit. In primitive societies the males became hunters while
the females tended to the young and were probably the
first agronomists. Each family unit joined with others to
form a larger unit, such as a tribe, to improve its ability to
survive. This cooperation among members of a group of
individuals contributed to efficiency; as the group's activities expanded it became necessary for individuals to specialize in areas in which they had talents and abilities to
perform certain tasks better than others.

As societies became more and more complex, clusters
of individuals formalized rules to govern themselves. Beyond this, the groups soon noted that they could trade and
barter with neighboring villages to obtain products that
they could not make or grow. Modern societies are made
up of numerous production units, each specializing in certain functions. When taken as a whole, these units fit, some
better than others, to form a large complex entity that

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